Weird National Cat Day 2014 Roundup: From Funny Twitter Photos To Pro-Cat Charities
When it comes to National Cat Day, Twitter appears to bring out the eccentric cat lady in account users. National Cat Day also prompts anyone with cat-related charities and causes to show off their best funny cat photos. The stories written about National Cat Day 2014 include an owl/cat odd-couple, a list of children’s books, Uber delivering stray cats, and a laser cat photo from the ASPCA — among others.
Literacy about cats was an eccentric topic for many Twitter users in regards to #NationalCatDay, and The Horn Book publications compiled its own child-friendly list of cat-related books. Along those lines, National Cat Day from the Twitter account of Chronicle Books focuses on cat poet Francesco Marciuliano. Author of I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats and I Knead My Mommy: And Other Poems by Kittens, Marciuliano dedicates National Cat Day with a humorous poem called, “Every Day Should Be Cat Day.”
Many of the headlines for National Cat Day were centered on the Uber project that promised to deliver shelter or rescue kittens for anyone in their driving areas. According to The Huffington Post, Uber got together on National Cat Day with the ASPCA and Cheezburger to deliver cats and draw awareness to shelters and rescues. Uber senior marketing manager Ed Casabian made a statement to HuffPost Live on National Cat Day.
“Today, instead of requesting an Uber X or an Uber black car, you can actually request Uber kittens on demand. So a kitten car will come to your office. You just have to enter the promo code ‘KITTENSNYC.’ That will unlock a special view to be able to request the kittens.”
One of the ways that charities have focused on Halloween and National Cat Day is to promote the idea of dressing like a cat for Halloween to raise awareness for getting shelter cats adopted. The campaign is called A PurrFect Halloween, and it is sponsored by DoSomething.org.
The campaign asks the the public to spread the word to neighbors about adoptive cats in your area while trick-or-treating. Afterward, you will get a chance to enter a scholarship drawing for $10,000. Along those lines, makeup artists such as Marcelle.com are posting their tips about how to do cat Halloween makeup for National Cat Day to promote adopting cats.
The Twitter account for the Philadelphia Zoo chose an eccentric angle to National Cat Day by focusing on the negative link between palm oil and cats. According to their website promoted on National Cat Day from their Twitter account, big cats are losing their habitats due to palm oil harvesting.
“Big cats like tigers and jaguars are losing their habitat as demand from companies that use palm oil continues to grow, but it doesn’t have to be this way.”
The Philadelphia Zoo went on to explain that palm oil could be grown while protecting habitats for big cats. To get owners and their cats involved on National Cat Day, they encourage sending a pic of your cat to show your support for deforestation-free palm oil. The pics collected from the National Cat Day submissions will then be sent to companies that support deforestation-free palm oil such as Mars, General Mills, Kellogg’s and The Body Shop.
Among others, Ebay’s Giving Works page has also placed focus on charities for National Cat Day with a page specifically dedicated to the cats cause. Cat charity items include an ugly Christmas sweater for men.
One other popular animal services charity that is using National Cat Day as an opportunity to get online followers interested in their cause is the ASPCA. They have posted a Laser Cat Portrait Contest for cat owners to join. If a contestant wins the portrait session, the resulting photos are intended to be eccentric and funny. Giving this National Cat Day idea a try is @FallonTonight. Included in the cat portraits are @blackthought, @questlove, and @jamespoyser.
Speaking of raising money for cats on National Cat Day, Kickstarter wrote a post about cats versus dogs as it pertains to fundraising on their website. Studies show that there are more Kickstarters for dogs than cats. On the other hand, not all Kickstarters that involve the word cat are about a pet cat.
For instance, one Kickstarter called A Rainbow Kitten Christmas used National Cat Day to promote their project. Influenced by electronic musicians like Wendy Carlos and the Nintendo Entertainment System’s video game soundtracks, the musician behind this oddball Christmas music, Mike Traficante, says,
“For a long time now I’ve been thinking about making an album of Christmas music in my own style of electronic weirdness. I want to make something that’s totally crazy, but still has all of the heart that these classic, sometimes even ancient, songs demand. Well folks, with a little help from you, this is the year I do it.”
Charities aside, most Twitter users with personal or business accounts enjoyed National Cat Day by being silly about cat pictures. Examples include posting Pinterest pages for National Cat Day that focus on cycling cats. The Mother Nature Network compiled a story about vacation destinations for cat people.
For people that need more National Cat Day in their lives, the alternative is the weekly #WhiskersWednesday on Twitter.
All images are from Twitter or references sourced in the article.
